(Ottawa) Even if Air Canada chose to pay fines instead of actually improving its services in French, it could see changes imposed by the Commissioner of Official Languages. This was pleaded by Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, who defended her bill in parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Updated yesterday at 6:05 p.m.
“The commissioner has a toolbox [pour] really do his job, ”she said in response to questions from Conservative MP Jacques Gourde.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Ginette Petitpas Taylor
The new version of the bill to modernize the Official Languages Act gives new powers to the Commissioner responsible for overseeing its application. He could impose penalties on Air Canada of up to $25,000. This power would also be extended to VIA Rail and Marine Atlantic as well as to all airport authorities.
“Air Canada has annual revenues of $5.8 billion,” recalled Mr. Gourde. If the commissioner gives a maximum penalty of $25,000, do you think that can really shake them up or they will perhaps choose to pay the fine and not respect the law? »
One of the senior leaders questioned by the elected members of the parliamentary committee on official languages declared on Monday that “compliance with the law does not involve fines”. Rather, he was advocating for support from the federal government.
“First, I think we have to remember that administrative monetary penalties are a tool, not the worst tool,” said Minister Petitpas Taylor. Bill C-13 gives five new powers to the Commissioner of Official Languages: informal mediation, the publication of his decisions, the imposition of fines, the conclusion of compliance agreements and the power of order.
“Really the power of order, that’s really what will have more bite for companies like Air Canada,” she added. It would allow the Commissioner of Official Languages to go to the Federal Court to enforce an order that is not complied with.
Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau stirred up a language storm in November by delivering a speech in English in Montreal despite warnings from a member of François Legault’s cabinet in Quebec City and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in Ottawa. . Only a few sentences in French had been added.
He later told reporters that he had been living in the metropolis for 14 years without having had to learn French, which was “to the credit” of the city. A statement that raised eyebrows, since the air carrier is subject to the Official Languages Act and that it accumulates a significant number of complaints about the poor quality of its services in French year after year.
Minister Petitpas Taylor had met with the chairman of the board of directors of Air Canada, Vagn Sørensen, in the wake of this controversy.
“The only reason I met them anyway is because of Mr. Rousseau’s complete gaffe [durant] my second week [comme] Minister of Official Languages. I have to tell you I was very frustrated with his comments and then we had a conversation about that, but it wasn’t about the bill. »
The Commissioner of Official Languages had received more than 2,000 complaints, a record number after Mr. Rousseau’s speech. A few months later, the minister granted him the new powers he had been asking for so long to be able to enforce the law instead of just issuing recommendations.
The Air Canada boss offered his apologies in labored French to members of the parliamentary committee during his testimony on Monday. He said he has been taking intensive French lessons since, which take him 10 hours a week.
Bill C-13 which amends the Official Languages Act, filed on 1er March, is in the early stages of the legislative process. It has not yet passed second reading in the House of Commons.